Top Russian diplomat expects no new reset in relations with US

The first full-scale meeting of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton took part in Geneva's Intercontinental. Mrs Clinton presented Mr Lavrov with a souvenir button with the word "Reset" (RIA Novosti /
Eduard Pesov)

Russia’s deputy foreign minister says relations with the US will not improve in the near future, as Washington’s sanctions policy has already gone too far.

“Of course, there will be no new ‘reset’ like the one that
happened a few years ago, and that yielded some positive results,
I am still sure that this period was marked with a number of
positive changes in Russian-US relations. But now I cannot
foresee or expect anything like this,” Sergey Ryabkov said
in an interview with the Russian media.

“It is unlikely, because Washington has gone too far in its
anti-Russian rhetoric and the constant urge to punish us for
something, now it will be difficult to ‘rewind’ the
situation,” he noted.

The Russian diplomat said it was very regretful the US foreign
policy doctrine does not extend beyond the use of sanctions and
quasi-sanctions in reply for all events that do not satisfy their
current desires.

Ryabkov also said that Russian authorities were facing a major
setback in cooperation with the United States and this setback
was because of the US initiative.

“We have not touched a single issue in order to, let’s say,
demonstratively influence the minds and moods in Washington.
Everything we are doing is just a reciprocal measure and a
reaction to the inadmissible steps performed by the USA,” he
said.

The traditional cooperation formats have already been frozen, and
the possibility of their restoration remains rather vague in the
current conditions, the official stated. The Russian side would
like to hope these were not liquidated completely, he said.

Still, the top Russian diplomat emphasized that Moscow would
continue the dialogue and would calmly inform all its partners
about Russia’s positions on all issues, defending its interests.

Ryabkov’s statements came against a background of the threat of
new sanctions against Russian companies and officials that come
from Washington and Brussels. Earlier this year the USA, the EU
and several US allies, like Canada and Australia introduced entry
bans and asset freezes against Russian officials, politicians and
heads of state-owned corporations over Russia’s alleged
complicity in the current crisis in Ukraine and the accession of
the Crimean Republic into the Russian Federation that was
strongly opposed by the West, despite being almost unanimously
welcomed by Crimeans.